


5

by aphrodite (cabinseventy)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Argo II (Percy Jackson), Behind the Scenes, Book 4: The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus), Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Developing Relationship, Gen, The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus) Spoilers, they're just understanding each other more yknow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 06:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18424773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabinseventy/pseuds/aphrodite
Summary: Jason gets only 5 questions to ask after Leo comes back from Ogygia.





	5

**Author's Note:**

> so i tagged it as gen, only because the story is honestly more focused on the two's friendship, but i DID have an intention to end with romance, and then i didn't lol. tell me if you disagree and i'll tag appropriately
> 
> (in other news i'm almost done with the vote ch3, i just had SATs like 2 days ago that i bombed and needed something short to distract myself with)
> 
>  **scene:** Uhh, Percy and Annabeth are still in hell, but Leo just got back onto the ship after Calypso. It's Jason's POV during that chapter, then the next chap is in Percy's @hell, which isn't relevant. The Argo is basically in Greece and the Doors of Death are about to open in like 5-10 mins or something (idk rick is bad w/ time), but I extended it for my own purposes. And that's what you missed on PJO!!! >:D

Jason knocked on the door. He wasn’t expecting much. In fact, he didn’t even think Leo would open the door. But he did.

Leo’s cabin was neater than Jason thought it would be. It was bare, actually, the room clean of everything but a bed pushed into a corner, and a desk across it. A Dr. Who poster hung over the bed, giving the only reminder of Leo’s personality.

“Hey,” Leo sat at his desk, spinning in his chair. He put his foot down to stop the spinning and face Jason. “What’s up?”

“Just checking in,” Jason said. He stood at the doorway, not sure what to do with himself. “Piper took all your time, so I didn’t have a chance to really ask about you.”

“Well, uh, I’m good. Was gonna take a nap, if I have to be honest-” Leo stretched with a giant yawn, “-’cause I’m _super_ drained.”

“What happened to you?” Jason stepped forward. “Where’d you go? Are you okay-”

“Whoa, whoa, man.” Leo rubbed his eyes. He did look exhausted, making Jason’s questions press harder into his mind. Leo was gone for five entire days, and he came back with clothes that should not exist- nevermind the fact that Leo probably shouldn’t exist either. He had been completely blown away by Khione.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re good. Just... tired. Give me a second.”

Leo got up from his chair and kicked off his sneakers. He fell onto his bed, rubbing his face into his pillow with a giant sigh. “That’s much better. It’s been awhile Bed.”

Jason closed the door. “It _has_ been a while. Five days actually.”

“ _Really?_ ” A flash of confusion flicked over Leo’s features, but he quickly controlled it. He buried his face into the pillow and muttered to himself.

Jason sat at the desk. It was more Leo-like than the room, at least. A picture of the two of them and Piper taken at Camp Half-Blood rested in a sea-shell frame in the corner. The rest of the desk was covered with messy scribbles and blueprints that Jason couldn’t read through. It was a strange mix of Ancient Greek, Spanish, and English.

Even though he knew Leo was tired, Leo wasn’t moving. Which was _not_ Leo-like. The Leo Jason knew never stopped moving like he was always ready to jump up and start running. The Leo in front of Jason was lying on his stomach with his back moving with his breathing. Not a single twitch, not a single leg jerk, not even a single _shift_ to get more comfortable. “Are you _sure_ you’re okay?”

Leo’s head jumped up. “ _Gods_ , Jason, I thought you went away already. Stop creeping on me.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“You’re asking a _lot_. Can’t you just let it go?” Leo’s eyes shifted around, never quite landing on Jason. After realizing Jason didn’t plan on leaving, he huffed and dropped his head back into his pillow. His left hand held up five fingers. “You’ve got five questions and then get _out_.”

“Five?”

A finger dropped. “Not anymore.”

“ _Leo_. Seriously?” Jason scooted his chair closer to the bed and nudged Leo’s shoulder.

“Was that a question? I think I heard a question.” Leo’s ring finger wiggled in the air. “And hurry up. The more we talk, the less sleep I get before I have to kick some monster butt.”

“Fine,” Jason said. He had a lot of questions. It would be hard to narrow it down to only three. It seemed like everything he wanted to talk to Leo about over the past week had been building up to this moment, and Jason wanted it to all spill out. Three questions were not a lot of questions.

“Tick tock,” Leo lifted his head. His hair hung over his face, which looked thinner and more mature than Jason had last seen him. Leo had more prominent bone structure than Jason thought.

“What happened to you?”

“It’s like I told everyone earlier. I got marooned on an island,” Leo’s eyes slid from Jason’s face to the floor. “Next question.”

“Come on, Leo. Give me better than that.” Jason said. “You didn’t want to say it with everyone, but now it’s just me.”

He looked at Jason, analyzing his face. “Yeah, I guess.” Leo sighed again and sat up. He swung his feet over the bed and rubbed his palms into his thighs. “Got stuck on Ogygia and stuff. You any familiar with Calypso?”

“Not really.” Jason felt bad for not paying attention during the history lessons at Camp Half-Blood. Because he was his only camper to his cabin (or maybe because he was a temporary guest), Chiron allowed Jason to follow the schedule of either Leo and Piper. Piper’s schedule was boring and Leo was always off with his cabin building the Argo II, so Jason had just wandered around doing whatever interested him. History Lessons with the Athena Cabin had _not_ interested him at any point over the winter. He tried ransacking his brain for Leo, though. “She’s a sorceress… like Medea.”

Leo let out a mirthless laugh. “Crazy Mall Lady? Something like that. Cals would love that though- _Crazy Island Lady_.”

Cals. They're close? “You escaped, though. Isn’t that-” Jason didn’t want to waste a question. “That’s good.”

“Escaped,” Leo’s hands balled up into fists. “I don’t know about that… I didn’t want to leave. But I had to.”

“What do you mean?”

Leo looked up at Jason. His expression was dull like he had left his soul back on Ogygia with Calypso. Jason recoiled back into his chair, feeling very strange. “That’s your third question, by the way.”

“It’s fine,” Jason said.

Leo licked his lips and took a deep breath. An uneasy slippery type of grin found its way onto Leo’s face.“I think I fell in love. And she loved me back. But then I found out that I _had_ to, and _she_ had to… but-” Leo’s grin wavered. “I don’t know. It’s complicated. _Stupid_ curse.”

Jason wanted Leo to elaborate on that, but he didn’t want to waste a question. He also felt a tinge of annoyance. He met Cupid. He knew what Love really was. Jason didn’t want to think about Leo experiencing all of _that_ over the past few days.

“Oh, yeah, you don’t know.” Leo’s hands splayed out over his thighs. “Calypso was cursed to stay on Ogygia for siding with the Titans, and she can’t leave. But every once and a while, some unlucky guy comes to her island, and they can’t get off until she-”

“Falls in love with them.” The story was starting to sound more familiar to him.

“Yep. And that unlucky guy happened to be me.” Leo smiled weakly. “Khione sure knows how to make a home run, huh.”

Jason couldn’t respond to that. He didn’t think Leo wanted to talk about it anymore, and frankly, neither did he. Something about the conversation was too strange for Jason. They’ve talked about girls before. Lots of times. It was usually Jason asking for help about Piper, and Leo asking for help with, well, _all_ girls. But Leo was never like _this_. This was too much for Jason. For once, when talking to Leo, Jason felt helpless.

“What are you going to do? After the prophecy- are you going back to Wilderness? Or Camp Half-Blood?”

Leo laughed, but it was genuine this time. The Argo had been quiet without that sound. “That was _definitely_ like twenty million questions, Jay. I’m gonna count it for only one, but you’re on thin ice.” He chuckled again and shrugged, looking more like himself. “I don’t really know yet. Probably camp if they’ll let me go back. How about you?”

Jason shrugged. “Not sure either.” That wasn’t exactly true though. He liked Camp Jupiter, obviously, but Camp Half-Blood with Piper and Leo felt like _home_. He remembered the bittersweetness of the CJ brownie-tasting ambrosia. It used to taste so sweet. Even Jason’s _body_ knew its preference.

“Do you think I should go back to Camp Jupiter?” Jason blurted.

Leo rose one of his eyebrow’s, looking sympathetic as he reached forward to pat Jason’s back. “Man, if you have to question it, what do you think?” Leo smiled at him, and Jason’s stomach churned. He felt the blood rushing to his face as he swooped Leo up in a giant hug, the two falling over onto the bed.

“ _Jason!_ ” Leo laughed, patting the other’s back. “Get off, ha, you’re heavy- ha!”

Jason squeezed Leo tighter but eased the weight on him. Leo smelled like the ocean- another non-Leo thing, and another reminder of his absence. “Nah. You’re a better body pillow than a mechanic.”

“Oh, gee, _thanks_.” Leo rolled his eyes. They rolled on their sides. “What’s the hug for?”

“Just missed you,” Jason said. “It’s good having you back.”

“Good to _be_ back,” Leo’s grin slid off his face for a second, as his eyes darted past Jason, and he sat up. “Just in time for the Doors of Death to open. Fun.”

Jason opened his mouth, but Leo turned to him sharply. The faraway look in his eyes disappeared, replaced with practiced happiness. “You’ve got another question left, Jay. Make it count, ‘cause I think we’re about to hit shore. So much for taking a nap.”

“We already hit five.”

Leo shrugged. “Maybe I’m being nice for once. Consider yourself spoiled.”

Jason frowned. Leo absorbed all his questions through osmosis during that hug. When he hugged Leo, it was like all of Jason’s problems disappeared. He felt at home, like he was back at Camp Half-Blood, singing around the campfire before lights out. “I don’t have any.”

Leo looked disappointed. “Can’t believe you made me admit I have feelings, dude.”

“Oh, _yeah_ ,” Jason laughed, throwing an arm around Leo’s shoulder. He felt weird. Like he had eaten something bad and it was making his stomach churn. Was it the approaching of the prophecy or something else? _To storm or fire_... Jason might not have much time left with his friend. “You’ve _got_ to tell me all about how you made her fall for you.”

“Story for another day, buddy,” Leo winked. “Gotta keep the suspense up. Also, Piper eats this stuff up, and there’s _no_ way I’m embarrassing myself _twice_ -”

There was a knock on the door, and a head of curls popped in. Hazel was as surprised to see Jason, as he was to see her.

“Hey, guys.” Hazel glanced back into the hallway. “We’re here, and there are...um… some harpies. Actually, we’re _kind of_ under attack. But Frank’s got it.” She ducked out quickly after that, but not before silently closing the door.

Leo stood up, stretching. He rubbed his hands together and then cracked his knuckles. “ _‘Kind of under attack.’_ ” He snickered to himself.

“What?” Jason opened the door for him. They jogged up to the deck, hearing the sounds of Frank’s arrows zipping through the air and squawking harpies getting louder. “Didn’t have this when you were gone?”

“Wasn’t one of the perks.”

Jason clapped his hand on Leo’s back and grinned at him. “Missed you, man. You have no clue.”

“So I’ve heard.” Leo shrugged him off, grin equally as wide. “Missed you too.” He offered his fist to Jason. They thumped just as Frank’s final arrow flew through the air.

**Author's Note:**

> i think i'm going to either start a collection or a series with my in-canon valgrace fics, because they all can fall into the same universe (the canon one lol) and share similar themes. (also they're the fics i'm going to get sued with) tell me if you think that's a good idea. 
> 
> thank you, and have a good day!!!! :)


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